Kid Reads New Book Reviews
Click on a cover to jump to its review!
Death Cloud
Reading Level: Grades 6-9
14-year-old Sherlock Holmes is thrust into a deadly adventure when he is sent to live with eccentric relatives during the school holidays
Check availability of this book
Other engrossing Holmesian spin-offs include:
Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock
The Case of the Missing Marquess: A Enola Holmes Mystery by Nancy Springer and
The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King
Login or register to post comments | 
Printer-friendly version | 
Send to friend | PDF version | 
Tags: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, Adventure, Books for Boys, Historical Fiction, Mysteries, JY Fiction, SJS
The Trouble With Chickens: A J.J. Tully Mystery
Reading Level: Grades 2-3
When J.J. Tully, a retired search and rescue dog, agrees to help a frantic mother hen find her missing chicks, he finds himself locked in a desperate struggle with an evil dachshund named "Vinnie the Funnel."
Check availability of this book
Other intrepid animal detective tales include:
Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery by James Howe
The Buddy Files: The Case of the Lost Boy by Dori Hillestad Butler
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, Animals--Talking, Fantasy, Humor, Mysteries, J Fiction, SJS
The Things a Brother Knows
Reading Level: Grade 7-9
Boaz Katznelson was a great athlete, talented student and all round high school golden boy. He was accepted to Cornell, Berkley, Tufts and Columbia Universities. His family was stunned when he announced he wasn’t going to college, he was enlisting in the Marines. Soon Boaz was overseas…after a few months, he stopped writing home. When Boaz finally came home, he walked straight upstairs and shut the door. He hasn’t been out in three weeks. Levi and his parents have waited three long years for Boaz's return. But he is no longer the brother Levi thought he knew. Even if nobody else wants to see it, Levi knows something is seriously wrong.
When Boaz announces he's off to hike the Appalachian Trail, Levi knows he's lying. So Levi follows, hoping to figure out how to save the brother he once adored.
Check availability of this book
Other stories of difficult brothers include:
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 7th Grade, 8th Grade, Adventure, Books for Boys, Family, Realistic Fiction, Relationships, JY Fiction, SJS
After Ever After
Reading Level: Grades 6-8
According to people in his hometown, Jeffrey Alper is a hero. The 8th grader knows he isn't a hero. He's just the local "cancer kid" who had managed to stay alive since he was four years old. He's alive...yes. But Jeffrey has not escaped unscathed. The poisonous chemotherapy he has received over the past decade has left him with a limp and a serious learning disability. Two things that make it even more difficult for Jeffrey to be a "normal kid." This school year is even harder because his big brother Steven, the guy who got him through all the years of cancer treatment and pain has taken off to join a "drumming circle" in Africa leaving Jeff alone to navigate the trials of school, first love and an irascible best friend.
Check availability of this book
More books by Jordan Sonnenblick
Other tales of kids dealing with cancer include:
Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, Books for Boys, Friends, Misfits, Realistic Fiction, School, Self Image, JY Fiction, SJS
The Ring of Solomon
Reading Level: Grades 6-8
The Bartimeaus trilogy chronicled the demon's misadventures while under the control of an 11-year-old magician. In this prequel Stroud shares one of the djinni's earlier adventures as the very reluctant slave of the evil Khaba, an ambitions magician in the court of King Solomon who rules Jerusalem with the help of the powerful slave of the ring.
As usual Bartimeaus's intelligence and snarky attitude land him in a world of trouble after he rescues Asmira, a "hereditary guard" who was sent by the Queen of Sheba to assassinate Solomon, from desert bandits. Instead of eating her, he spares her life setting into motion a disastrous series of events which may well result in the end of the ancient world.
Check availability of this book
For another entertaining djinn series try::
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, Adventure, Books for Boys, Fantasy, Humor, Supernatural, JY Fiction, SJS
The Star Maker
Reading Level: Grades 2-4
When Artie promises his mean cousin that he will give everyone firecrackers on the next Chinese New Year celebration, he immediately regrets it. How will he ever come up with enough money to buy all those firecrackers? Sympathetic to Artie's problem is Uncle Chester - a fun loving everyman who is wildly popular in Chinatown where Artie's family lives. Uncle Chester promises Artie that he will help - but when Uncle Chester's seemingly endless money starts to run out, Artie begins to worry.
Check availability of this book
A few similar books:
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, Family, Friends, Read-Alikes, Read-Alouds, Realistic Fiction, Relationships, Social Issues, J Fiction, EF
The Gardener
Reading Level: Grades 7-10
High school sophomore Mason has a fairly normal life, if you discount the ugly scar marring half of his hulky face; if you discount the disappearance of his father and his mother's drinking habit and tendency to require Mason to be her parent and not vice versa.
When Mason discovers that the Haven of Peace, the rehabilitation center his mom works at is not just for the elderly, but for brain damaged teens whose parents have given up on them in favor of experimentation on them, his life is turned upside down.
After accidentally reviving one of the teens and rescuing her from the Haven of Peace, Mason finds himself on the run from TroDyn, a bioengineering firm responsible for experimentation on the girl.
Check availability of this book
Other tales of morally gray experiments on children:
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 7th Grade, 8th Grade, High Schoolers, Adventure, Dystopias, Family, Misfits, Read-Alikes, Relationships, Science Fiction, Self Image, JY Fiction, EF
Gorgeous
Reading Level: Grades 7-9
14-year-old Allison feels like the boring filling in a beauty sandwich. Her blonde, perfect, talented older sister can do no wrong while in their parents eyes and Allison's younger sister is everybody's darling. Allison only gets her parents' attention when she is in trouble (which usually isn't her fault).
One day Allison mutters, "I would give anything to be somebody." That night the devil arrives in her bedroom to seal the bargain but instead of her soul, all he wants is her cell phone. Gorgeous for a cell phone? Who wouldn't take that deal?
Check availability of this book
Other tales of Faustian bargains include:
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 7th Grade, 8th Grade, High Schoolers, Books for Girls, Family, Fantasy, Friends, Humor, Self Image, Supernatural, JY Fiction, SJS
iDrakula
Reading Level: Grades 8+
IM conversation between YthDeptRviwr and need4books
4/4/11, 7:59pm-8:05pm
YthDeptRviwr: u kno the story of dracula rite?
need4books: uh, yea? y?
YthDeptRviwr: just read this book that retells it if it happened today
need4books: sounds interesting
YthDeptRviwr: the best part is its like told through the ifone
need4books: what?
YthDeptRviwr: yea its all texts and emails and screenshots of browser pages and stuff
need4books: sounds interesting
YthDeptRviwr: very. wanna borrow it?
need4books: k
YthDeptRviwr: heres a link 2 it
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 8th Grade, High Schoolers, Fantasy, Horror, Non-Prose, Relationships, Supernatural, Vampires, JY Fiction, EF
Trapped
Reading Level: Grades 7+
When school closes early because of a snowstorm, Scotty’s first reaction is anger, that his basketball game is canceled. His anger soon abates when his best friends Jason and Pete smooth-talk their way into the shop to work on a go-kart until rides arrive. Soon the only people left in the school are Scotty, Jason, Pete, two freshman girls, a weird kid named Elijah, a thug named Les, and the teacher responsible for waiting until everyone’s ride came. The snow keeps falling, unrelenting, and it dawns on the group that no one is coming. When the lights of a snowplow appear faintly in the distance, Mr Gossell, history teacher / assistant football coach, plunges out into the storm looking for help.
He never makes it back.
Soon, the power is out and the seven students realize they’re going to be stuck at school for a while; but no one knows they’re there.
Trapped is a literally chilling survival story of friendship in dire straits.
Check availability of this book
More books by Michael Northrop
Some read-alikes:
The Killing Sea by Richard Lewis
Snow Bound by Harry Mazer
Blizzard! the Storm that Changed America by Jim Murphy
Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Dead and The Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
The Trap by John Smelcer
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 7th Grade, 8th Grade, High Schoolers, Adventure, Books for Boys, Don't Miss These, Friends, Misfits, Read-Alikes, Realistic Fiction, Relationships, School, Social Issues, JY Fiction, EF